Mastering the 10 x 10 Challenge Experience

10 days, 10 of my favorite fashion pieces, 1 business trip: Yes, I made it through the 10 x 10 Challenge (as reported recently on TwentyNineSomething) and it’s now time to share my experiences with you. Was it annoying to wear the same pieces over and over again? Did I actually miss my other stuff and was I tempted to break up the entire thing after three days? And who cares actually? But guess what – there were more advantages then you may expect in the first place…and oops, you somehow even teach yourself a lesson!

Decision making made easy
You can literally already cross off one major task of your “how to organize your day” list before breakfast. The choices to make with a capsule collection of only 10 items are limited and thus getting ready within seconds a clear advantage.

Value the things you haveWhenever you feel tired of your clothes (after day 5 approximately) you will start to miss all the other great stuff that is waiting for you back home, but also feeling quite satisfied and thankful for the 10 quality items (a.k.a. the reliable companions in this world full of craziness) you brought with you.

Think outside the box
After a certain “fatigue” creeps in (wearing jeans with the white shirt or blue blouse today?) you start to get creative automatically, making your accessories the silent heroes of the entire challenge (…because there is nothing a colorful scarf can’t fix).

Strategy wins!Selecting the 10 key pieces wisely may be the biggest challenge of all, but leaving a business lunch without a tomato sauce stain on your white shirt may be another. Thinking ahead, therefore, helps – or in other words: It’s simply a smart idea, to wear those items that are more susceptible for dirt at the end of the first week, rather than kicking the entire challenge off with your white blouse.

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At the end of the entire challenge, you may ask yourself: Would I go through the same challenge again? I definitely have to answer that with a “Yes”, as the advantages clearly overweigh the disadvantages. Once you overcome the “I am so tired of my capsule wardrobe” moments, you will treasure the things you carry with you much more and also realise, that money well invested in qualitative fabric will bring you more joy throughout the time, than chasing after every trendy piece that will not survive the third run in your washing machine.

I am no moralizer, but I think this may the biggest aha-experience of all: Understanding (once again) that less is more!